Hi all,
Apologies if this has been asked recently before. I'm currently towards the end of my ACCA. I've done a few years in practice but decided to make the move to industry as it was more sensible financially at the time.
My current employer is funding my ACCA and paying me a decent wage, but my real dream is to get my practice cert. And start up something of my own (No matter how small).
The thought I'm having is that I'll need to move from my current job to an employer who can sign off my ACCA Practice cert. experience, but has anyone found employers reluctant to bring people on when they want to do this?
I can understand it makes it seem like they'll come on board and then flee the moment they've got all the signatures required.
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Do you need to tell a potential new employer about your ambition to start your own practice?
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the quick response. My understand is I wouldn't have to tell them, but it could be implied by me wanting them to sign off the experience for a practice certificate as I go?
I was under the impression that they had to sign off individual tasks etc
You might want to review the process on the ACCA website rather than relying on impressions. And since the requirements are quite specific, you probably do have to be upfront about your desire to get a PC (just not your desire to set up on your own)
Personally, I would see an employee wanting to gain that extra qualification as ambitious and motivated. If a firm is unduly concerned about people moving on, perhaps you wouldn't want to work there.
Signing off the experience doesn't equal applying for a practicing certificate, so it doesn't mean you are actually planning to go self employing in the foreseeable future. It's just a formality. You might keep the forms in a folder at home for a few years before you apply. To actually apply for a practicing certificate you need to jump through a few additional hoops (such has having professional indemnity insurance).
I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it, I very much doubt an employer would, I guess they do this all the time. You just want to keep all your options open.
Now I actually recall it ... I went to a job interview a few years back and asked the question whether the employer would sign off my professional experience. They asked why, I said I had no intention to go self employed now (which was true at that point), but would like to keep this as an option later in life. They were perfectly happy with that. Whatever happens later in life is exactly that ... something that happens later in life, no employer will believe you if you tell them that you are planning to spend the rest of your working life with them, the'll probably assume that you will move on after a few years.
By the way, you don't just need a practicing certificate if you want to open your own practice, you also need one if you want to rise up to Partner level in an existing practice, so recording the experience only shows that you have ambition and are a driven individual.